Class 1A state meet

Here we go Class 1A State track meet. Once again we had 12 kids qualify with time or place at the sectionals. and we took a few extra alternates along as well. Friday the school had a pep send of with balloons and High 5's. The High school track team was also out there.

Arriving at the East Peoria Sports complex made some of the kids nervous and opened the eyes of others that this is the BIG SHOW. A long wait for my distance runners. They were not scheduled to run until 4:45. Alot of stretching and relaxing was on the adgenda.
After a moderate warm up they were ready. I only have one complaint about how IESA ran the meet. After the kids checked in, they had to stand in line for up to an hour with no warm up clothes. The kids even asked to keep the warm gear on but IESA wouldn't let them. Hopefully its warmer the next couple of weeks.
My first runner 7th grade girl 1600. Nicole was seeded 4th and man was she nervous. A good start running in the middle. What I like about her she runs with a smile on her face all the time. On the first lap she moved up through the pack nicely and placed herself in 8th position and she said there until the last 200 where she moved into 6th place. She finished strong with a 5:39 and some change. A new PR for her by 14 sec. The winning time was 5:28
Her splits 1:18 1:23 1:21 1:15

Up next was was a 6th grade boy running up to the 7th grade 1600. Brain is in his first year and I will say it now, look out for this kid. He improves with every meet and I was wanting to see how he ran with other becuase he ran behind Zach all year and there was no one close to him. Believe it or not he was seeded 10th coming into the race with a 5:25 at sectionals. Brain ran a good race with the exception on the first lap passing 3 wide into the wind. He will learn patience and race stradegy. He kept picking off the the others but ran out of track. He placed 8th with a PR of 5:12. The winner did have a full beard for a 7th grader and ran a time of 5:01 Brian's splits 1:10 1:22 1:23 1:17
No 8th grade girls this year, so on the 8th grade boys. Zach was seeded 1st going but new he had alot of fast milers out there. He ran against them last year and last years 7th grade winning time 4:55. The race started and he immediately had to run alot of rabbits down. He finally took the lead on the second lap where he has felt comfortable all year, but was pulling the champ from last year with him. A couple of chasers were falling back and Zach kept pulling all through the third lap. He attempted to kick the last 300 and did put some distance between him and the second place. On the last 150 the 2nd and 3rd place worked together and pulled up to Zach and passed him with 100 left. Zach kicked again but was unable to recover after pulling those guys around. I think he is happy with the way he ran his race and ended up with a 3rd place finish. PR 4:54:40. Winning time 4:52 Zachs splits 1:09 1:15 1:17 1:13

Now with the mile down I had the same runners for the 800 on Saturday. Nicole was up first again. Seeded 5th going in she felt a little more comfortable, but was still nervous. A pep talk and another long wait after check in looked like it took its toll an all the runners. She got boxed in the first lap and had to make up for a loss stride. She managed to pull strong and passd several runners to place 6th. Again with a PR 2:35 which is also a new Heywroth Jr High record time. Old time 2:38

Brian was up next coming in seeded 7th. A slow start it looked like he was holding back on the first 400. He began picking it up the last 200 and passed again on the turn 3 wide. The kid has got a kick too and was even pinched inside in the last 100, but still managed to pick off 2 more runners. Brian finished 11th with a time of 2:26 winning time 2:15

In the 8th grade boys 800 Zach was seeded 2nd coming in to the meet and again had a field of fast runners. Zach began moving up after the first lap 1:05 and never looked like he was comfortable. He finished strong with a 2:16 which placed him 8th. The winning time 2:10 was won by a friend of Zach's Oliver Meows from Holy Trinity. At least it was someone local. After the race Zach said he was so tight and cold from standing there for over an hour.

The relay team for 4x200 and 4x400, Nick,Ryan,Sam, Elijah competed against some very strong teams. The relay team ended up with and 8th place 1:52:13 in the 4x200 and 5th place in the 4x400 with a time of 4:17:90
Other participants from Heyworth that didn't place, had a good showing and now know what needs to be worked on.
High jump Ryan 9th 5'00
Discus Ashley 19th 74' 11
Corey 18th 111' 07
Shot put Ashley 34th 23' 06
100 Lauren 24th 13:89
200 Lauren 19th 28:83
400 Cassidy 13th 1:05:63

The future of Heyworth track continues, stay tuned. With the track season coming to a close it only opens up the door for cross country.

Train hard, Train smart
David